The missing child
When people ask how many children I have, I hesitate. The answer is two, a bio child and adopted child, but it is easier to say “one.” Like other simple questions in idle chat, the answer is messier than social … Read More
Hitch-hiking
Ken Kesey’s bronze statue cozied up to me On that bench in Eugene. I knew Further, That painted Urge to trip across country, Thumb out, backpack on. I jumped a 6-foot fence in Minnesota, State trooper’s light flashing, Left a … Read More
Looking for the meadowlark
The meadowlark’s song is a signature memory of my childhood, that lilting call on a grassy knoll, melody carried above the grinding of grasshoppers or the rustling of wind through tall grass; a meadowlark perched on a fence post, head … Read More
Protest Song
Where are all the protest songs? Long time passing? Caged children don’t wade in the water. What blows in the wind? We count and it’s one, two, three what are we waiting for? We’re in a silent war. Does outrage … Read More
Saging, a Poem
Aromatic burning, smoke wafting upwards, Dish of glowing sage offered North, East, South, West Cleansing old energy, making room for new We have accumulated years, Were young Turks once The Ottoman Empire reduced to metaphor Our fate, like Black Elk, … Read More
Boomeringue
Boomerang kids are those kids who slingshot back home as young adults. Post-recession career-type jobs were hard to come by, and most parents had a twenty-something that regretted living in the basement as much as we missed our freedom. Entry-level … Read More
The Last Person Made Famous by a Painting
The Last Person Made Famous by a Painting is the title of a short video by Jesse Brass and Bo Bartlett about Helga Testorf, she of the Helga paintings. Andrew Wyeth painted 250 pictures of Helga over a 15-year period, … Read More
Becoming the music
Becoming the Music Considering Matthew Shepard is a haunting, beautiful cantata sung by Conspirare, a renowned choral group. The night I heard a live performance, the audience was part of each note; we listened through to the end without one … Read More
No one cares, Your Highness…
Age – which we wear by virtue of being retired—is a great equalizer for women. Maybe men, too, I don’t know, but there were some decades when being a single woman, a single parent, definitely felt like not being chosen … Read More